Iowa State Fair sets new attendance record

DES MOINES - The 2017 Iowa State Fair was a chart topper.

From Aug. 10-20, an estimated 1,130,071 people visited the State Fair in Des Moines, according to a news release. That bests the previous record attendance of 1,117,398 set in 2015.

In 2016, 1,031,278 people attended the fair.

In setting the record this year, attendance on both Saturdays of the fair - Aug. 12 and Aug. 19 - saw more than 120,000 attendees.

Here is a closer look at the daily attendance totals at this year's fair:

- Thursday, Aug. 10 - 86,408

- Friday, Aug. 11 - 103,424

- Saturday, Aug. 12 - 120,833

- Sunday, Aug. 13 - 112,396

- Monday, Aug. 14 - 105,522

- Tuesday, Aug. 15 - 96,863

- Wednesday, Aug. 16 - 95,322

- Thursday, Aug. 17 - 96,015

- Friday, Aug. 18 - 97,958

- Saturday, Aug. 19 - 120,616

- Sunday, Aug. 20 - 94,714

Started in 1854, the Iowa State Fair first topped the million attendee mark in 2002 and has experienced slight ups and downs in attendance since. A previous, long-standing attendance record of 1,109,150 was set in 2008 before being topped in 2015.

The 2018 Iowa State Fair is set for Aug. 9-19.